The trailer for the upcoming Netflix Limited Series HALSTON has been released, the latest project from Ryan Murphy, who is one of the series’ Executive Producers. Also on the Executive Producers list is Ewan McGregor, who stars as Halston, the mononymous, legendary celebrity fashion designer, known for creating iconic looks such as Jackie Kennedy’s pillbox hat, which she wore to her husband John F. Kennedy’s inauguration.
Following on from the success of Murphy’s other fashion-related project (The Assassination of Gianni Versace in 2018, from his American Crime Story anthology series), HALSTON tells the story of the rise and fall of a designer who was credited with redefining fashion in America. It is based on Steven Gaines’ book of the same name, written by Sharr White, and directed by Daniel Minahan.
The trailer starts grandly, with McGregor’s voiceover proclaiming, “I have a vision. I’m going to change the face of American fashion.” It portrays the world of fashion in the 1970s as volatile and fragile, and brings to life the glamorous circles he moved in – Halston was best friends with Liza Minelli, spent time with the likes of Elizabeth Taylor, Bianca Jagger and Andy Warhol, and regularly partied at the renowned New York nightclub Studio 54. This is all set to a haunting version of Depeche Mode’s ‘Enjoy The Silence’, as we see Halston spiral out of control into drug addiction and angry confrontations, and feel him start to lose all that he has built.
The series has already received acclaim from the designer and filmmaker Tom Ford, and fashion journalist André Leon Talley, but has also seen criticism from people who are frustrated at the casting of yet another straight white man to play an LGBTQ+ icon. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, McGregor said, “I hear the discussion and I respect both sides of it, I really do… I don’t know what it’s like to lose out parts when you might feel it’s to do with your sexuality.”
HALSTON is set to premiere on Netflix on 14 May 2021.
Words by Maddy Parker
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